If you’re reading this post, you’re probably a software developer trying to work as a consultant or, more generally, a knowledge worker who trades expertise for money. Like me, you probably spent years honing your technical skills, perfecting your craft. Then you read a couple of books about negotiation, felt like you learned what you needed and you were off to the races.

But let me tell you how skipping 30 minutes of corporate due diligence and a bit of extra one-time work cost me $20,000 and taught me more about business than a dozen MBA courses.

You’re only as young as you feel. Until something reminds you of just how old you are. Or, in this case, how long you’ve been at something, which by extension reminds you of how you old you are.

I’ve been programming in C++ for almost 30 years and that’s both awesome and weird. And with 30 years of experience it’s easy to forget how your code looked back in the day. Earlier today, while searching for something, I stumbled upon a bit of homework from my time as an undergrad student at UNLV, and after reviewing it, I found myself equal parts surprised, embarassed and amused.

And so, I figured it would make for a fun post.

As I wrote in my previous blog post: “[l]ife is a journey with a fixed origin and a known destination but a peripatetic path full of yet-to-be-discovered waypoints.”

Life is a journey with a fixed origin and a known destination but a peripatetic path full of yet-to-be-discovered waypoints.